Harlequins stormed out to a 14-nil lead which would have been more but for two missed Paul Sykes conversions.

It was a blitzing start for Quins with Tyrone Smith the first across for the new home season after collecting a superb Danny Orr cross field kick.

The opening five minutes were littered with handling errors, as both sides appeared to freeze in front of the live television cameras.

It took a deft chip kick by Quins' new signing Danny Orr to finally prise open the Salford defence, with Tyrone Smith nipping in to score.

The home side soon doubled their try tally when an excellent Scott Hill pass released Chris Melling, who powered home to score.

Sykes soon made up for his two missed conversions when good work again from Orr allowed the fullback to crash home for the try.

Salford reduced the arrears minutes before half-time when a good offload just two metres out allowed Luke Wilshere to score in the corner with Hodgson adding the conversion.

And with just seconds left before the half-time hooter, Wilshere collected a hopeful punt upfield and fed Luke Robinson for a second Salford try.

The Salford Reds were left seething just seconds after the restart as Julien Rinaldi was awarded a controversial fourth Harlequins try.

The visiting Salford players were left shaking their heads in disbelief as Quins opened up what looked an unassailable eight-point lead as the video referee awarded the touchdown for the home side.

Harlequins' Karl Temata thought he had put the game beyond Salford with a second-half touchdown but his try was disallowed by the video referee for a clear obstruction.

As the game appeared to be heading for a straight-forward Harlequins home win, Andy Coley stole in to reduce the arrears.

And with just seconds remaining Salford newboy Michael Korkidas was the hero for the Reds, stealing in for a last-gasp controversial try.

Hodgson had the opportunity to seal the points for Salford but he froze under pressure and dragged his conversion wide.

Quins looked the better team for the vast majority of the game but after 80 minutes the scoreboard could told a different story.